Earlier this month, I prepared for our annual financial forecasting and planning meeting with our finance team. I meticulously created our contract projections to meet our expansion needs and align with our goals.
I finished up, smiled, and closed my laptop. Everything was in order, it looked good, and I was ready for the meeting.
Two days later, I opened it again, preparing for the meeting that afternoon, and instantly saw it:
I was playing it safe.
Not just safe… predictable.
I was using the past to determine the present.
I was using the present to define the future.
I was letting linear thinking quietly cap our potential.
I was using the present to define the future.
I was letting linear thinking quietly cap our potential.
This is one of the most seductive traps in leadership: the belief that what has worked in the past should guide our actions going forward.
It feels wise. Responsible. Mature.
But it’s also the very thing that slows innovation, dilutes ambition, and turns high-performing organizations into steady-but-stagnant ones.
And as Benjamin Hardy writes:
“Rather than letting the past shape your present and the present determine your future, you want to take your future and make it really big… and then use that future to shape your present.”
That single idea can disrupt everything, for the better.
There’s a moment in every organization where the leaders realize they’ve outgrown the goals that once inspired them.
It often happens quietly.
Not in a crisis.
Not in a market downturn.
Not when things are breaking.
Not in a market downturn.
Not when things are breaking.
But precisely when things are good.
That’s where I found myself:
Confident.
Organized.
Clear.
But not stretched.
Not expanded.
Not challenged.
Not expanded.
Not challenged.
That’s when the question emerged:
What is our seemingly impossible goal for 2026 at The Amplified Life Company?
Not a reasonable goal.
Not a smart goal.
Not a “given our past performance” goal.
Not a smart goal.
Not a “given our past performance” goal.
A seemingly impossible one.
Why Impossible Goals Work?
There are two reasons I intentionally push myself, and our team, to set goals that feel almost unreasonable:
1. They work.
Impossible goals demand creativity.
Impossible goals demand creativity.
They break assumptions.
They force new levels of focus and resourcefulness.
2. They align with a core belief of our organization:
The #1 thing keeping you from your next level of success is your current level of success.
Complacency often hides inside competence.
Confidence can quietly dull ambition.
Comfort is the enemy of expansion.
Even high-performing organizations slip into familiar patterns unless something bold interrupts the pattern.
Dr. Denise Russo puts it beautifully:
“Impossible goals motivate high performance by mandating creativity and assumption-breaking thinking… Prior experience is often a poor guide for impossible achievement.”
When the goal is big enough, your past stops being the reference point.
Your future becomes the architect.
Your future becomes the architect.
How We Reverse-Engineer Impossible Goals
When we do this work internally at ALC, we always start close to the heartbeat of our organization, who we serve:
CEOs
Boards
Executive teams
Leaders who carry the responsibility of culture, clarity, and direction.
Boards
Executive teams
Leaders who carry the responsibility of culture, clarity, and direction.
And we ask:
“What is the one leadership challenge we could solve for them that would make everything else they do simpler, smoother, or even irrelevant?”
That question unlocks new pathways.
It removes clutter.
It brings clarity.
It reveals leverage points and strategic inflection moments.
It removes clutter.
It brings clarity.
It reveals leverage points and strategic inflection moments.
And once we define the impossible goal, the next question emerges naturally:
Who do we need to achieve this goal?
Not what.
Not how.
Not when.
Not how.
Not when.
Who.
Because impossible goals require expanded collaboration, deeper alignment, and a team operating at the highest expression of their gifts.
Reflection Fuels Expansion
Yes, we do agree that there is massive value in reflection on past performance, not as nostalgia, but as strategic awareness.
When we gather as a team, we explore questions like:
- What are you most proud of this year, both individually and collectively?
- What created the most momentum, enthusiasm, and innovation?
- What drained energy?
- How do you envision our 10x reality as an organization?
- How can we better leverage each person’s unique talents, gifts, strengths, and interests?
These conversations cultivate the three foundational elements of peak-performance work culture:
Autonomy
Safety (trust)
Meaningful work
Safety (trust)
Meaningful work
When those three are present, teams rise.
When they’re missing, teams stall.
When they’re missing, teams stall.
This reflection turns the past into a launchpad.
Not a roadmap.
Not a ceiling.
Not a roadmap.
Not a ceiling.
A starting point.
The new ceiling becomes 10x higher.
And the future?
Bigger.
Bolder.
More aligned.
More meaningful.
Bigger.
Bolder.
More aligned.
More meaningful.
Now, it’s your turn.
Have you set your seemingly impossible goal for 2026 yet?
If so, I want to hear it. Share it with me in the comments or send me an email at hello@carmenohling.com.
And if you want monthly accountability and inspiration as I share ours, join the text list.
Text “inspire” to 503-386-2981 to stay in the loop.
Big futures require bold accountability.
Let’s build yours.